Auditor general to probe NPCA
After nearly a year of political ping-pong, Ontario’s Auditor general was directed Wednesday to conduct a comprehensive audit of the besieged Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority.
On Wednesday morning the allparty provincial public accounts committee passed a motion by Welland NDP MPP Cindy Forster that directed Auditor general Bonnie Lysyk to “conduct a full financial audit “of the NPCA
During a speech at the committee, Forster said the audit is needed because the NPCA has engaged in questionable property purchases, hiring practices, is embroiled in labour relations problems and political bullying.
“There’s been widespread workplace harassment,” Forster told the committee, pointing to a union survey that said 86 per cent of employees were harassed, or witnessed harassment, in the workplace.
The NPCA’s management rejects the survey’s conclusions.
Forster’s motion was passed unopposed. She said the Liberal and NDP MPPs voted for the motion while the Progressive Conservative members abstained.
“For too long, the NPCA has operated in secrecy, with no oversight or transparency,” Forster said after her motion passed. “Be it the recent firing of staff in the watershed department, bullying in the workplace or questionable development practices, Niagara families have a right to know about the operations of their conservation authority. The passing of this motion is an important step to ensuring transparency and accountability at the NPCA.”
The public accounts committee reviews reports by the Auditor general, makes recommendations and can ask the Auditor general to do special projects, like audit the NPCA.
In an interview with Postmedia News Wednesday afternoon Lysyk said while the full scope of the audit has yet to be defined, but it will be guided by intent of Forster’s motion.
She said she will meet soon with the NPCA audit committee and, given financial nature of the investigation, external auditors who have reviewed the authority’s books.
Lysyk said Wednesday NPCA board chairman and Fort Erie regional council Sandy Annunziata called her shortly after the motion was passed and that the conversation “very positive and welcoming.”
For his part, Annunziata said that “today is a very good day” and that he was pleased to welcome Lysyk “into the NPCA family.”
Annunziata said the board, which requested Lysyk to do an audit in in April, will cooperate with the Auditor General and hopes the resulting report will resolve ongoing questions about the NPCA.
However, the announcement of the audit wasn’t without controversy.
In a press release issued Wednesday afternoon, Annunizata characterized the committee motion as the result of the NPCA board request for an audit.
“With today’s announcement, we are grateful for the news that the Board’s request to invite the Auditor General to conduct a value for money audit of the NPCA has been approved,” Annunziata said in the release.
However, the request Annunizata referred to was denied by Lysyk’s office in September because she didn’t have any auditing teams available.
Neither the public accounts committee motion, nor the debate after it, made reference to the NPCA request.
“Well, we did make a motion inviting the Auditor General to conduct a value for money audit,” Annunziata said Wednesday when asked why he interpreted the public accounts committee motion as approval for a previously denied request.
Forster said Annunziata’s response shows why the audit is needed.
“The NPCA can’t become the organization of transparency and accountability if it doesn’t act like one,” Forster said in an interview.
Wednesday ’s motion comes after several failed attempts get an audit of the NPCA done.
After several Niagara municipalities and the City of Hamilton sent letters to the provincial government demanding a value-formoney audit. In January, Lysyk told NPCA she would conduct one provided the board agreed to it.
The NPCA did not take her up on the offer and decided to hire its own external auditor. However, the hiring process abruptly stopped when Annunizata claimed former board member and Lincoln regional councillor Bill Hodgson “corrupted” it.
The NPCA board voted to publicly censure Hodgson, who later resigned saying he was being bullied by the board.
Annunziata says there is a lawyer’s report that proves Hodgson’s wrongdoing, but he has repeatedly declined to make the report public.
The NPCA did not hire an auditor and instead hired consultant Todd McDonald to conduct a review. His report is expected to be completed and released by the end of November.
In April, the NPCA board passed its motion inviting an audit. However, Lysyk had previously given the board a deadline of late February to accept her offer. They didn’t meet the deadline, and she assigned her team to another project.
Lysyk said Wednesday her audits are in-depth and can take six months to a year to complete. She doesn’t expect the NPCA audit will begin until the early new year and it is unlikely it will be completed before the 2018 elections.
When the report is completed, it will be presented to Queen’s Park.
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